We are a group of craft beer lovers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut who write reviews of craft beer online, do beer rating, blog about beer, share brewery reviews, and discuss microbrews. We enjoy visiting brew pubs, beer halls and gardens, beer festivals, and beverage stores in the Rockland, Westchester, Fairfield and Bergen County area and sharing our experiences with others.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Pumpkin Season Is Upon Us: Dogfish Head Punkin Beer Review

Craft Beer Pumpkin season is upon us. Yes it might be a little early, but who am I to tell these
breweries to put Pumpkin production on hold until the fall weather has taken
over. It’s a real catch-22,
because as much as I’d love to hold off on grabbing and drinking these pumpkins
until Mother Nature has given me the okay, they’re fresh RIGHT now. What’s better than fresh beer? Well
nothing obviously.

With that said, I’m going to review our first pumpkin beer
of the season or should I say our first Punkin. It may not be the highest rated Pumpkin brew on Beer
Advocate but it certainly is the most reviewed, crushing the competition.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale with a Sandwich

Pumpkin brews can really be divided into two sectors, full
bodied and light bodied. Punkin is
certainly part of the former group.
It is a full-bodied brown ale with just subtle hints of the pumpkin
characteristics. Unlike some of
the sweet, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar bombs that other breweries produce.

The beer pores a beautiful light amber color with a veracious
white head that really sticks around in the glass for some time. The smell is not a smack in the face of
pumpkin but more subtle pumpkin with hints of various spices. As for the flavor it is a brown ale
through and through, far more nutty flavor in this one than most pumpkin
ales. The taste begins with the
nutty brown mixed with the pumpkin flavor and some cinnamon, and it finishes
off with a slight spice that doesn’t overwhelm the palette as other pumpkins
do.

There’s a reason that Dogfish Head is quickly becoming one
of the nations largest microbreweries, they make damn good beer in ever
sector. Per the usual they do so
with a twist, this is set apart from the others because it’s not your typical
spice bomb but a full bodied well-rounded brown ale with pumpkin flavors mixed
in well throughout.

Check out last years Great Pumpkin Tasting done by the Tri State Beer Blog right here, http://tristatebeerblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/great-pumpkin-tasting-results-and.html